Organisation
Centre for Research on Peace and Development
Research Institute
The Centre for Research on Peace and Development (CRPD) is a multidisciplinary research centre at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Leuven University (KU Leuven). CRPD’s multidisciplinary team conducts conceptual, empirical and applied research with the aim of improving our understanding of the causes of violent conflicts and the challenges of sustainable peace building.
CRPD brings together researchers from within the Faculty of Social Sciences with different disciplinary backgrounds, including political scientists, public management experts, anthropologists, sociologists and communication experts. Although there has been a decline in the number of violent intra-state conflicts around the world since the mid-1990s, in a large number of countries (especially developing ones), violent conflicts, communal tensions and political repression continue to cause immense human suffering and to undermine development efforts. Improving our understanding of how to resolve violent conflicts and foster more peaceful relations within and between communities, societies and countries therefore remain crucial research issues.
Research on conflict and sustainable peace building is a broad field of study, which is reflected in the Centre’s three main research clusters:
- Governance
- Conflict causes and dynamics
- Challenges of sustainable peace building